PACE Global Haiku • July 2006 Dr. Randy Brooks

Carrie White

Haiku in the Making by Carrie White When I came into this class (Global Haiku), all I really knew was that haiku was a form of ancient poetry and one of my favorite perfumes. Now I have a deeper appreciation for the perfume. Really, I taking this class has helped me to stop again and notice more of what I noticed years ago with the untarnished innocence of a child. Whether a haiku shows a moment or a taste of nature, it is good to stop and smell the roses. In our busy adult lives, especially those of us who are going back to school, this class is a very welcome detour off the mundane path we sometimes fall onto. My goal is to pursue reading and writing haiku. From the moment I read the first tiny poem in Dr. Brooks' Mayfly magazine, I knew I was simply captured. My approach, as limited as it may be, is more geared to senryu, or the comical side of haiku. While my own writing may be more dramatic and somber, this is what I came to love. As an aspiring medical student, let me share my favorite George Swede senryu: medical school a cobweb in the pelvis of the skeleton      George Swede, Almost Unseen, page 32 Sometimes the students here could relate, or at least our spouses. Good luck! I hope you enjoy haiku as much as I do!

child traces lines in belly years ago she made

6 am automatic pilot      did I stop at that light?

that song it never fails suddenly I am back

phone rings . . . new lover glances out the corner of his eye

an open hand . . .                        I could not reach      before it closed

© 2006, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.